News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-12-08

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chance.
Subsequent events confirmed the lat
ter theory. The Rev. Alfred Stuckev
on being communicated with by teIe
gram next day, replied that he had Ief
has father at home in his chair at al!
on the previous evening. On the sam,
day Mr. Stuckey's hat was found in IN,
osIer beds at Chiswick. A dav or tv,
later walking stick, which had certain
] y belonged to him, was picked up il
the river at Chelsea. The police con
unued the hue-and-cry with unabatec
vlgor, but after these discoveries onl,
one theory of the old gentleman's dis
appearance seemed tenable. There was
no motive to suggest his having met foul
play. He had neither the means mol
the strength to have travelled to anv
distance. The conclusion seemed iney-
liable that he had strayed out for some
Purpose-perhaps for no other reason
than that his days outing had unduly
excited him-and had somehow fallen
into the river. 1t was a considerable
time, however, before the discovery of
the body put the old mans fate beyon d
question. During the interval Ephraim
lStuckey was more than once summoned
to different points between Kew Bridge
and Gravesend for the purpose of in
specting the ghastly human foatsam
and jetsam of the river, but without re-
suit. -Four weeks had nearly elapsed
when he received information that the
body of an elderly man had been found
In Deptford, the linen of which appeared
to have been marked with an ''S." The
features were all but unrecognizable,
but after such inspection as was posi-
BILE, Ephraim without hesitation pro-
nounced the remains to be that of his
father.
The inquest which followed and which
was, of course, held at Deptford, added
only one additional fact to those above
stated. The medical evidence showed
that there was severe confusion on the
head, which had probably been caused
before death, and the doctor was strong
ly of the opinion that the deceased had
been stunned by this blow and thrown
into the river. There was nothing, how
ever, to point to definite conclusion,
and after hearing the evidence of the
Rev. Alfred Stuckey and his brother as
to the mental condition of the deceased,
the jury returned verdict of "Found
drowned" A certificate of this verdict,
together with other documents relating
to the death, was subsequently lodged
by the Rev. Alfred Stuckey, as admin
ministrator of the deceased, with the
Monument Assurance Company, in whose
office the insurance on Martin Stuckey's
life had been effected.
About week after this was done Mr..
Capper, the manager of the Monument
Assurance Company, was shown into
the office of Mr.. George George, the
company's solicitor.
"Well," he said, ''any result from
the inquiries in Stuckey's asec 2"
eyes, little " replied Mr.. George;
''but am afraid nothing that is of much
use to us at present"
''It is not case of suicide ?''
Judge for yourself. You remember |
that at the inquest the Rev. Alfred
Stuckey stated that he returned with
lis father from Richmond about 5, and
eft quarter of an hour later in order
o catch the 5 35 Metropolitan train
0 King s-cross.
81 do" {
every well. Now have ascertained /
hat Mr.. Alfred and the deceased took
arriage at Richmond not long before
}. m, but were only driven as far as
Barnes, where, at their own request,
hey were put down on the tow-path,
have found the fyman, who says that
le set them down on the tow-path near
v opposite Chiswick about 4: 80, and !
aw them walk away eastward. We have
lso got hold of an old woman who saw
hem on the tow-path near Hammer {
mith bridge; but whether below OF
bove she cannot state, walking IN the !
Erection of Putney. She SAYS II was
within a few minutes Of ) O'Clock and
1st getting dusk. On that day, October
8, the sun, YOU VIII find, set at 81. 1
Tow, it is not impossible, of course, that
.lfred Stucl;ey NAV have been on the {
ow-path walking toward Putney about
o'clock, and vet have afterwards !
aught the 5 35 train: but 10 my mind I
MS evidence throws grave doubt on his /
tory. Remember, we have only Al E
ed Stuckey's word for IT that the de-
sased ever went home at all On the q
ther hand, there Is a strong presump-
on that some time after o'clock that h
ight he found his way into the river, !
aving been, according to the medical
.stimony, knocked on the head first, f
by some one who had mo- II
We for doing so, which stranger to
I'M would not have" b
''You ink he was murdered" a
81 form no theory ut present; but | t
ink that Messrs. Alfred and Ephraim I
,tween them know more about their II
ther's disappearance than they have C
It disclosed, and that the evidence we -
Nv have offers very convenient Il
cans of squeezing the truth out of
lem" \
''Then what do you advise? i
"Put all our information in the hands /
the police. We shall never prove .
licide, and if it be n case of murder L
lat does not help the Office. 1t is, y
lerefore, not worth the cOmpany's L
lille to spend the money on further in I
uiries. On the other hand, if there be l
nv fraud in the case, the truth will c
ery soon come out when one or other of J
nose gentlemen is arrested on charge t
{ murder, which [ expect we shall see t
efore another week is over"
In this last conjecture Mr.. George was !
OF mistaken-he very seldom was
bout such matters. Within four or
We days from the time when he for
ard. the Rev. Alfred Stuckey was In
ustody, charged with numbering his
ather.
When he appeared before the magls-
rate the facts detailed by Mr.. George
yere supplemented by piece OF eYl-
ence of the most damning character.
| tramp, named Higgs, was called, ana
Q dep0sed to having seen the deceased,
,hom he knew well by sight, III com
.anv with another man on the tow
,ath between Hammersmith and Putney
ome time after dark; to having over
Ieard something like an alteration, the
Id man apparently refusing to go on, and
he young one threatening to chuck HIM
nto the river if he was troublesome;
md, finally, to having heard loud cries
fter he had passed. Higgs did not at
empt to identify the prisoner, but he
vas sure that the man with the deceased
vas in a black coat, and closely reGem-
,led the prisoner in height and figure.
With regard to the time he was uncer-
ain; but it was clear from his state
nents that it must have been within five
minutes on either side of quarter to
,ix. This left time, as the prosecution
showed, for the prisoner to catch train
It Putney Bridge by which he could
nave reached st. Pancras SO as to travel
1y the 7:10 down train from that sta
ion. On this evidence the magistrate
Without hesitation committed the priso-
Ter for trial.
Only one other piece of evidence was
Ldduced when the trial came off at Old
Bailey, but it had an important bearing
IN the issue 1t appeared that when he
lad left the University four or five